sex abusehttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/taxonomy/term/1132/all
enCatholic Church in Scotland faces fresh abuse cover-up allegationshttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/18135
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<p>The BBC says it has seen evidence that Scottish Catholic bishops knew about 20 allegations of child sex abuse by priests between 1985 and 1995.</p>
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<p>The BBC says it has seen evidence that Scottish Catholic bishops knew about 20 allegations of child sex abuse by priests between 1985 and 1995.</p>
<p>The academic who compiled a report for the Catholic Church in Scotland, detailing how to deal with abuse, says that it was not acted upon in a decisive or concerted way. Others also allege that the Church "swept the issue under the carpet". </p>
<p>In a separate development, the respected Catholic newspaper The Tablet said on 8 March 2013 that Rome confronted Cardinal Keith O'Brien with allegations concerning his own misdemeanours, which involved young adult men, months ago.</p>
<p>The magazine declared: "Cardinal Keith O'Brien was summoned to Rome as early as October 2012 to answer charges of sexual impropriety. It was previously thought that allegations of misconduct had not emerged until February 23, when a story was published in the Observer describing unwanted sexual advances allegedly made by the cardinal against three serving priests and a then-seminarian in the 1980s.</p>
<p>"However, The Tablet can report that after a priest lodged an allegation with the Congregation for Bishops, Cardinal O'Brien was asked to travel to Rome to answer the accusation.</p>
<p>"The disclosure of the earlier complaint about Cardinal O'Brien's sexual conduct also casts a new light on the acceptance of his resignation last November [2012].</p>
<p>"Pope Benedict XVI, in anticipation of the cardinal's 75th birthday on March 17 2013, accepted his resignation <em>nunc pro tunc</em>, meaning "now, for later". However, once further allegations were made public, he accepted the cardinal's resignation with immediate effect on 25 February."</p>
<p>In relation to the BBC's child abuse cover-up charge, the Catholic Church in Scotland issued an immediate statement insisting that its child protection procedures have improved dramatically since 1999, and that allegations of abuse now are rare.</p>
<p>But critics say that it remains defensive and unwilling to contemplate the true depths of the problem uncovered by these latest revelations and the admission by Cardinal O'Brien that he was guilty of 'sexual misconduct' - or, as the victims put it, sex abuse and abuse of power.</p>
<p>In the mid-'90s, Dundee University ethics lecturer Alan Draper asked Scotland's eight Catholic bishops how much they knew about abuse within the church. Letters that they sent in reply, which refer to 20 allegations of child abuse by priests, have now come into the public domain.</p>
<p>He told the BBC: "I was very concerned about their unwillingness to actually expose individual priests who were leaving double lives.</p>
<p>"They were very reluctant to do that, and I felt that was totally inappropriate. It's not what your sexuality is, it's how you're managing your sexuality.</p>
<p>“Certainly there's strong evidence to say some of the priests were out of control sexually, whether they be homosexual or heterosexual.</p>
<p>“The file should be made open to an independent group, preferably chaired by a judge.” </p>
<p>Lawyer Cameron Fyfe added: "I am now acting for six clients who allege abuse, two of whom have come forward just in the last few weeks since the Keith O'Brien scandal. Some of them go back to the early 1980s, but two of them have been within the last 10 years."</p>
<p>The Catholic Church in Scotland was not offering spokespeople for comment earlier in the evening (8 March 2013).</p>
<p>It said that Mr Draper had been replaced by people with "greater competence" and added in its statement of response: "The Catholic Church has had nationally agreed guidelines on the protection of children and vulnerable adults since 1999.</p>
<p>"In this regard the Church was two years ahead of the Nolan Commission in England and Wales, which reported in 2001.</p>
<p>"All allegations are notified to the police. The Church recognises that the statutory authorities are the responsible bodies for investigation.</p>
<p>"All necessary steps are taken to remove anyone in danger from situations of risk."</p>
<p>"The Roman Catholic Church is no stranger to scandal, but until now Scotland has not been engulfed by allegations of abuse," the BBC commented.</p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Religion and SocietyNews Briefabusecardinal keith o'brienCardinal O'Briencatholic bishops conferencecatholic churchchild abusechild sex abuseKeith O'BrienRoman Catholicroman catholic churchscoltlandsex abuseUK NewsSat, 09 Mar 2013 00:14:10 +0000staff writers18135 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukCardinal Turkson child abuse blunder may damage papal prospectshttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/18045
<p><a href="http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/18045" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Community and FamilyReligion and SocietySex and GenderNews Briefcatholic churchchild sex abuseHomosexualityLGBTpapal conclavepontiffPopeRoman Catholicsex abuseBlogWed, 20 Feb 2013 13:23:51 +0000Savi Hensman18045 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukAbuse survivors will continue legal action against Pope http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/17980
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<p>Sex abuse survivors say they want the resignation of Pope Benedict to strengthen the struggle for true accountability within the Catholic Church.</p>
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<p>The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) says it hopes that the resignation of Pope Benedict will strengthen the struggle for true accountability within the Catholic Church, and that it intends to press ahead with prosecutions. </p>
<p>The organisation has 12,000 members worldwide, and it claims that Benedict XVI remains personally responsible for widespread abuse within the church, first exposed under John Paul II, because he has chosen to protect its reputation above safeguarding the safety of children and seeking justice for past wrongs. </p>
<p>US lawyers who are currently suing the pontiff and other high-ranking Holy See officials for systematically concealing sexual crimes around the world now say that his resignation may lead to further international prosecutions.</p>
<p>The Center for Constitutional Rights issued a statement on 11 February 2013, confirming that it had filed a case with the International Criminal Court on behalf of SNAP on September 2011, and had provided additional documentation in the case in April 2012. The prosecutor is currently reviewing the evidence for 'crimes against humanity' by the Pope and others.</p>
<p>David Clohessy, executive director of SNAP, speaking to Karen McVeigh of the Guardian newspaper, condemned the Pope's "terrible record" on child sex abuse and said he hoped that Benedict would “finally show some courageous leadership on the abuse crisis” in his remaining days in office.</p>
<p>Clohessy declared: “Before he became Pope his predecessor put him in charge of the abuse crisis. He has read thousands of pages of reports of the abuse cases from across the world. He knows more about clergy sex crimes and cover-ups than anyone else in the church, yet he has done precious little to protect children.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the co-founder of Irish Survivors of Child Abuse (ISCA) told Henry McDonald in Dublin had a slightly different take, saying that he suspected that Pope Benedict's willingness to help the victims of clerical abuse had been thwarted by ultra-conservative elements in the Vatican. </p>
<p>He said: "In March 2010 when the Pope issued his pastoral letter to the people of Ireland we welcomed it, because of the sincerity of the words in that letter from the pope in the name of the church. He said he was 'truly sorry' and accepted that our 'dignity had been violated'. So we went on to meet the contact group of bishops in Ireland thinking that this would be a new era.</p>
<p>"But what we got instead were pastoral platitudes and special Masses offered up. Yet what was missing was a practical response for the victims on earth, not the afterlife. There are people out there with enormous problems caused by what happened in childhood. Meanwhile there were ultra-rightwing elements in Rome who resisted change that he wanted to bring about; he lost that power struggle in the Vatican and so did not fulfil what he wanted to do in his pastoral letter. I would go as far as to say he faced obstruction, high up, [from people] who were opposed to any reforms or any open acknowledgement of their wrongdoings."</p>
<p>The statement from the Center for Constitutional Rights declared: "This Pope is responsible for rape and other sexual violence around the world, both through his exercise of superior responsibility and through his direct involvement in the cover up of specific crimes. Tens of thousands of victims, most of them children, continue to suffer because he has placed the reputation of the church above the safety of its members. His resignation will make international prosecution easier for national systems of justice that still grant immunity to current heads of state.</p>
<p>"In this case, all roads really do lead to Rome. Not only does Pope Benedict XVI bear responsibility in his official capacity for the church-wide policy of systematic and widespread concealment and enabling of the crimes, but he bears individual responsibility in a number of cases in which he ensured that perpetrators would be shielded and protected and left in place to assault more victims.</p>
<p>"The International Criminal Court does not recognise any of the traditional immunities to prosecution for crimes against humanity: whether he is in office or not makes no difference, but it may lower the bar of resistance enough for justice to be served. We share SNAP’s goal of preventing even one more child from being raped or sexually assaulted by a priest, first and foremost, and then further violated by a Church that consistently turns its back on victims and knowingly exposes its congregation to risk of rape and sexual violence," the statement concluded.</p>
<p>SNAP (<a href="http://www.snapnetwork.org" title="www.snapnetwork.org">www.snapnetwork.org</a>) is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. It has existed for 23 years and has members who were molested by religious figures of a whole range of denominations, not just the Catholic Church.</p>
<p>The Center for Constitutional Rights (<a href="http://ccrjustice.org/" title="http://ccrjustice.org/">http://ccrjustice.org/</a>) is "dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights." Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the Southern states of the USA, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organisation "committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change".</p>
<p>* Will Cardinal Martini's '200 years out of date' comments echo in the Conclave?, by Simon Barrow - <a href="http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/17976" title="http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/17976">http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/17976</a></p>
<p>* Benedict XVI leaves a mixed legacy on ecumenical dialogue, by Stephen Brown - <a href="http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/17981" title="http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/17981">http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/17981</a></p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Crime and JusticeReligion and SocietySex and GenderNews Briefcatholic churchchild sex abusepontiffPopepope benedictPope Benedict XVIroman catholic churchsex abusesexual abuseWorld NewsMon, 11 Feb 2013 22:11:57 +0000staff writers17980 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukAustralian bishop retires early, 'drained' by abuse scandalshttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/14497
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<p>The Pope has accepted the early resignation of a bishop in Australia whose diocese has been beset by several prominent sex-abuse scandals.</p>
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<p>Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the early resignation of an "emotionally drained" bishop in Australia whose diocese has been the focus of several prominent sex-abuse scandals - <em>writes Francis X. Rocca</em>.</p>
<p>The Vatican announced on 4 April 2011 that Bishop Michael John Malone, aged 71, of Maitland-Newcastle has resigned under a provision that requires the resignation of a "bishop who has become less able to fulfill his office because of ill health or some other grave cause," Religion News Service reports.</p>
<p>The ordinary retirement age for Catholic bishops is 75. The local Newcastle Herald newspaper reported in January that Malone, who had led the diocese since 1995, said he was seeking early retirement because he was exhausted by dealing with cases of clerical sex abuse.</p>
<p>"I'm emotionally drained by what has happened and feel disillusioned," Malone told the paper. "I toss and turn at night over the sex abuse committed by clergy and experience a lot of anxiety." </p>
<p>The bishop suggested his handling of the scandal, which included the publication of a full-page apology in the Herald last year, had alienated some of his own clergy. "The priests believe I have not been supportive of them," Malone said.</p>
<p>The paper also reported Malone was under investigation by local police for the "attempted secret defrocking" of an abusive priest.</p>
<p>[With acknowledgements to ENInews. <a href="http://www.eni.ch/">ENInews</a>, formerly Ecumenical News International, is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Communion of Reformed Churches and the Conference of European Churches.]</p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Crime and JusticeReligion and SocietyNews BriefAustraliaAustralianaustralian churchescatholic churchchild sex abusePope Benedict XVIsex abuseWorld NewsTue, 05 Apr 2011 23:00:29 +0000ENInews14497 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukCatholic leaders' Easter sermons sound penitent note over abuse 'crimes'http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/11697
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<p>Churches across Britain and Ireland - and especially Catholic leaders - have used Easter Sunday sermons to address the Catholic Church's handling of its global child abuse scandal.</p>
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<p>Churches across Britain and Ireland - and especially Catholic leaders - have used Easter Sunday sermons to address the Catholic Church's handling of its global child abuse scandal.</p>
<p>The president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference in England and Wales, Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster, said forthrightly that "serious sins" had been committed and that the Church was called upon to admit and rectify its failings.</p>
<p>The Irish Catholic Church's leading figure, Cardinal Sean Brady, who has defied repeated resignation calls, declared that there was no longer a "hiding place for abusers in the church".</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, apologised for the way his previous remarks had been made and received.</p>
<p>Dr Williams, who is spiritual head of the Anglican Communion, which claims 77 million adherents, had said in a BBC Radio interview due to be broadcast on Monday 5, April that Ireland's Catholic Church was losing "all credibility" over its response to past child abuse in its ranks.</p>
<p>He said in a subsequent BBC interview that he felt “deep sorrow" for adding to the difficulties being faced by Irish bishops. He also telephoned Archbishop Martin to insist he meant no offence. </p>
<p>A Lambeth Palace spokesperson for Dr Williams said that “The Archbishop had no intention of criticising or attacking the Catholic Church as a whole”, and was in fact expressing regret - as Ekklesia, almost alone among news outlets, reported on 3 April (<a href="http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/11688" title="http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/11688">http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/11688</a>).</p>
<p>Respondents from Ireland on Beliefnet and other religious news sites questioned whether the apology was appropriate or necessary.</p>
<p>Dr Williams did not tackle the child abuse issue in his own sermon - but instead lamented the misguided and misplaced "inflated language" used by some British Christians to claim that they are being "discriminated against".</p>
<p>At St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference in Scotland, apologised to abuse victims.</p>
<p>He said: "Crimes against children have indeed been committed, and any Catholics who were aware of such crimes and did not act to report them brings shame on us all."</p>
<p>O'Brien added that "no comfort" could come from the fact that only a small percentage of priests were guilty of paedophilia. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, at St Peter's in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI made no direct mention of the cover-up accusations which have engulfed the Church in his message that Easter signalled the promise of pardon, goodness and truth.</p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Religion and SocietyNews Briefarchbishop of canterburycatholic churchchild abusechildreneastersex abuseUK NewsSun, 04 Apr 2010 21:23:25 +0000staff writers11697 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukGerman Catholic abuse hotline welcomed, but much more is needed say criticshttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/11666
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<p>The Roman Catholic Church in Germany has launched an official telephone hotline for victims of sexual abuse in its institutions. Critics say it is still too little, too late.</p>
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<p>The Roman Catholic Church in Germany has launched an official telephone hotline for victims of sexual abuse in its institutions - <em>writes Anli Serfontein</em>.</p>
<p>At a press conference in Trier, Bishop Stephan Ackermann of the German Bishops' Conference said on 30 March 2010 that the helpline will be staffed by psychologists and social workers from the diocese of Trier.</p>
<p>Ackermann was appointed in February by the German bishops to handle mounting allegations of abuse in Germany's Catholic Church.</p>
<p>The crisis began when a school in Berlin run by the Jesuit order announced in January that there had been systematic abuse of pupils by three priests in the 1970s and 1980s. After the school had appointed a lawyer, it appealed for victims of abuse to come forward.</p>
<p>Soon it emerged that the priests involved also worked at other church-run schools and the problem grew. The scandal has so far affected most German dioceses.</p>
<p>Ackermann looked distressed when he told journalists, "I have in the past weeks had to read shocking examples and learned how strongly such an experience influences the life of every person." He said even long after they have happened, the occurrences have "really destructive traits".</p>
<p>Ackermann said, "Victims can now get a chance to come forward and report what they have kept silent about for decades because of shame." The bishop noted, "I have read many emails in the last weeks where victims have in detail portrayed their abuse and the after effects, and I must tell you honestly that I can only read that in small doses. It is shocking and one cannot just read it like regular post."</p>
<p>On 29 March Ackermann announced that 20 priests have been embroiled in cases of sexual abuse in his diocese between 1950 and 1990. He said although he was shocked by the number involved, "It is the reports of the victims that really upsets me and shocks me."</p>
<p>Asked whether the church was guilty of a cover-up, Ackermann said, "Those in church positions who did not clear up the problem, although they could have and should have, are of course guilty [of covering up]."</p>
<p>The bishop repeated an appeal to perpetrators of sexual abuse to admit their deeds, saying, "Only then will a way be possible to get to the truth and reconciliation."</p>
<p>The helpline should serve as a "door opener" for victims, said Andreas Zimmer, who runs the Counselling Services in the diocese of Trier. After an initial conversation with victims and listening to their wishes on what further action should be taken, they will be passed on to other professional counselling services in their own dioceses. "We (as the Church) have an obligation to fulfil," he said.</p>
<p>Zimmer said they chose "experienced counselling staff [psychologists or social workers] with many years of professional experience, who are highly qualified to deal with traumatised people and are competent in the field of sexual violence".</p>
<p>A spokesperson for the movement We are Church, Christian Weisner, told Ecumenical News International he thought that a service operating three days, and afternoons-only will not be enough for a country-wide helpline.</p>
<p>"It can only be a beginning," Weisner told ENI. "It is a step in the right direction, but should have been done in 2002 already. It is too little, too late."</p>
<p>We are Church has run a telephone helpline for victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy since 2002 when the Catholic sexual abuse scandal broke in the United States. So far 400 victims have called in, 90 in the last two months.</p>
<p>Weisner said that questions around the cause of the sexual abuse in church institutions will be debated for a long time. His organisation has called for the policy of mandatory celibacy of Catholic clergy to be abolished. </p>
<p>[With acknowledgements to ENI. <a href="http://www.eni.ch/">Ecumenical News International</a> is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Conference of European Churches.]</p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Crime and JusticeSex and GenderNews BriefchildrenGermanyRoman Catholicsex abuseWorld NewsWed, 31 Mar 2010 23:59:45 +0000Ecumenical News International11666 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukClerical abuse in the news - a US viewhttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/11637
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<p>In the matter of clerical abuse, justice must be done, says Martin Marty. But how and by whom the story gets told also matters. So why have Protestants and other Christians been so relatively quiet on the Catholic crisis?</p>
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<p>The religion-in-public-life story of the week, coded as 'Clerical Abuse' is all over the place here in the US. But why so little coverage outside the general media, from those who are not anti-religious? The Christopher Hitchens-types are having a field day, or field decade, and there is Catholic coverage, of course, but where are editorials from members of other religious groups, especially Protestants?</p>
<p>Pre-Vatican II, as those of us who remember the journalistic climate back then will recall, Protestants would have headlined and harped on the issue, and heaped on Catholics of low and high degree – the Pope, and what were then called his “minions” most of all. Not now. </p>
<p>Sure, with internet word-searches you can find some Protestant-based negative comments, and there are no doubt some savage responses to be found on various blogs, as there are on most blogs. But there are now more anti-anti-Catholic comments than there are anti-Catholic statements (though some Catholics go scouting for the latter, and magnify them). </p>
<p>Think hard: Have you seen anti-Catholic blasts from any Protestant denominations, papers, commissions and spokespersons? Or is this not what they are doing? Why not? What has changed? I will offer five suggestions or conclusions based on wide reading.</p>
<p>1) Critical Catholics are taking care of the subject, from snapping fronts – quite understandably – to grieving leaders, to many of the faithful. They don’t need help from Protestants, whose critiques would carry less weight on an 'in-house' issue.</p>
<p>2) Protestants basically use the occasion and the coverage to examine their own houses. Statistics are hard to come by, but insurance companies who deal in the abuse field find enough betrayals and scandals in the Protestant houses – if not always on this specific subject, then on marital infidelities, adulteries, and other breakings of trust.</p>
<p>3) 'The old boys’ club' – and we are talking chiefly about boys – is sometimes credited or discredited for the silence. That is, here are professionals guarding their professions, wearers of clerical collars protecting their counterparts and the good name of the caste. </p>
<p>4) Empathy: These profoundly disturbing revelations of abuse and, more often last week, cover-ups or blindness or bureaucratic mess-ups, do hurt; they profoundly hurt good people in the priesthood and the people they serve. Thoughtful humans, who rightfully rage when victims suffer or cover-ups occur, also share the pain of the innocent or stunned, and do not demonstrate a need to display an enjoyment in the misfortunes of others – not even, as in this case, those once seen as rivals. </p>
<p>5) Ecumenism: It really has taken hold, not in order to blunt moral concerns but to impel and enable people across the boundaries of separate communions to be part of 'the other.' Years ago I used to tout a signal of when ecumenism has taken hold: It was evident when members of one communion came to rejoice in the good fortunes of another, or mourn when there is mourning in another, formerly a rival.</p>
<p>These five hunches or clues to understanding are <em>not</em> to be read as excuses or evasions. Justice must be done. But how and by whom the story gets told also matters.</p>
<p>------------</p>
<p>(c) <strong>Martin E. Marty</strong> The author is a leading US commentator on religion - and the Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago. His biography, current projects, upcoming events, publications, and contact information can be found at <a href="http://www.illuminos.com" title="www.illuminos.com">www.illuminos.com</a>. </p>
<p>With grateful acknowledgements to <em>Sightings</em>, and the <a href="http://marty-center.uchicago.edu/">Martin Marty Center</a> at the University of Chicago Divinity School, Illinois, USA.</p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Community and FamilyCrime and JusticeNews BriefchildrenPopePope Benedict XVIsex abuseCulture and ReviewMon, 29 Mar 2010 13:09:50 +0000Martin E. Marty11637 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukProtesters call for Pope's resignation over allegations of sex abuse cover uphttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/11630
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<p>Palm Sunday worshippers were startled to face strong protests against the Pope and calls for his resignation as "an accomplice in sex crimes" outside London's Westminster Cathedral.</p>
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<p>Palm Sunday worshippers were startled to face strong protests against the Pope and calls for his resignation as "an accomplice in sex crimes" outside London's Westminster Cathedral. </p>
<p>The demonstration by 50 members of secularist, women's and gay organisations accused the Pope of "covering up child sex abuse by Catholic clergy" and called him a "protector of paedophile priests".</p>
<p>Some congregants had sympathy with the protest, but others were angry at what they accused of being an attempt to create generalised anti-Catholic sentiment out of the current child abuse crisis which has been growing in scale and strength in recent days.</p>
<p>The Vatican is now at loggerheads with many of its critics, who accuse the Holy See and the Church hierarchy of being completely out of touch and in denial about the depth of the problem.</p>
<p>Radical and progressive Catholics, themselves strongly critical of the Church leadership and calling for sweeping change, including a possible Vatican III Council, have been reluctant to ally with the style of the 'Protest the Pope' coalition. </p>
<p>Instead, they are wanting to use the build-up to Pope Benedict's visit to Britain later this year to push the Church to reverse its denial, open itself to legitimate criticism and commit to real change - including free conversation about teaching on sexuality, women and gay people in ordained and lay ministry, the culture of clerically-based secrecy, enforced priestly celibacy, and the deadening weight of hierarchy.</p>
<p>Some see the response of the Vatican to years of abuse within its ranks as an embodiment of the powerful reactionary and anti-change culture that has grown up in thinly disguised opposition to the reforming winds of Vatican II in 1963-65, which opened the Church, its mission, ministry and liturgy, to renewed faithfulness a changing world. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Swiss Catholic theologian, Professor Hans Kung, a leading figure associated with Vatican II, has called on Pope Benedict to issue a "mea culpa" for his part in "covering up decades of clerical sex abuse", both as an archbishop in Munich and as a cardinal in Rome. </p>
<p>Dr Kung, who once taught theology alongside the future Pope at Tubingen in Germany, pointed out last week that Benedict, when he was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, had served for many years in Rome as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, during which time he had imposed 'papal confidentiality' on cases of clerical abuse around the world. </p>
<p>In five years as Pope he had "not altered this practice one jot", said Dr Kung. </p>
<p>To the National Catholic Reporter in the USA, he declared: "In his 24 years as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, from around the world, all cases of grave sexual offences by clerics had to be reported, under strictest secrecy ('secretum pontificum'), to his curial office, which was exclusively responsible for dealing with them. Ratzinger himself, in a letter on 'grave sexual crimes' addressed to all the bishops under the date of 18 May, 2001, warned the bishops, under threat of ecclesiastical punishment, to observe 'papal secrecy' in such cases. In his five years as Pope, Benedict XVI has done nothing to change this practice with all its fateful consequences."</p>
<p>Meanwhile, in London, the human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, one of the organisers of the protest outside Westminster Cathedral, said: "Cardinal Ratzinger threatened to excommunicate anyone who spoke about [these crimes]. This makes the Pope personally responsible for the cover-up." </p>
<p>He added: "Pope Benedict's recent apology is inadequate because he has not apologised for his own failure to act against paedophile priests. He has not said sorry for his own role in covering up their sex crimes. </p>
<p>"The Pope knew about child sex abuse by Catholic clergy. He failed to stop it and he failed to report the abusers to the police. His moral authority is irreversibly tarnished. He should resign."</p>
<p>The Vatican robustly denies any cover up, though it has not opened its records fully on the issue or responded to many specific allegations. </p>
<p>Last night the Most Rev Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, defended Pope Benedict from allegations of involvement in a cover-up, claiming that he had actually tightened a number of provisions for dealing with offenders in Church law. </p>
<p>The Catholic Church in England and Wales and elsewhere, has implemented significant reforms, particularly with regard to child protection, but cases of compensation for abuse have also been resisted or settled out of court, and many inside as well as outside the Catholic community believe that much more decisive action and change is needed. </p>
<p>In Italy, one Church figure, Antonio Riboldi, the emeritus bishop of Acerra, declared that the "attack" on the Church over its handling of decades of abuses marked the start of a war "between the church and the world; between Satan and God".</p>
<p>This is precisely the kind of aggressive attitude which others have said goes to the root of the problem. The Guardian newspaper in London and Manchester yesterday declared: "The church seems unable, or unwilling, to accept the depth of the crisis in which it has mired itself and blind to the way its foot-dragging apologies merely exacerbate the damage."</p>
<p>Calling for major reform at the top, the paper added: "In another institution it would be impossible to imagine the survival of a leading figure who was even marginally implicated in such a terrible betrayal of its founding purpose. Indeed, if there were a way of removing Pope Benedict, it might serve to demonstrate the defeat of a generation who, for all the charisma of Pope John Paul II, adopted this disastrous policy of ignoring and often perpetuating the tragedy inflicted on the victims by putting the protection of the church and the needs of the abusers first. But popes do not resign and they are not sacked... So under Benedict, the church hobbles on, haemorrhaging support with each new charge against it."</p>
<p>[Ekk/3]</p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Crime and JusticeReligion and SocietyNews BriefchildrenPopePope Benedict XVIsex abuseUK NewsSun, 28 Mar 2010 17:09:47 +0000staff writers11630 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukPanorama fails to expose true issues of church sex abuse, says survivors grouphttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/news/uk/061003a
<!-- google_ad_section_start --><p>The chairperson and founder of the group Minister and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors, Margaret Kennedy, has said that the BBC Panorama documentary attacking the Catholic Church over child sexual abuse</p>
<!-- google_ad_section_end --><p><a href="http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/news/uk/061003a" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Crime and JusticeNews BriefabuseMargaret Kennedypanoramasex abusesexual abuseUK NewsTue, 03 Oct 2006 09:39:37 +0000Ashleigh4 at http://www.ekklesia.co.uk